Cody Rhodes left WrestleMania Saturday with his title intact and his face in rough shape. WWE’s backstage video after the match showed trainers tending to Rhodes, whose eye was completely swollen shut after he defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the WrestleMania Saturday main event.
The damage looked severe enough to make the next few days matter. On the WrestleMania Sunday pre-show, Jackie Redmond said Rhodes was not medically cleared to compete because of an orbital injury, and that he needed sutures to his face and staples to the back of his head. That leaves WWE watching the situation closely ahead of SmackDown on Friday, even as the company has not yet advertised anything for the blue brand after WrestleMania.
The title question is not settled, but the early read is that Rhodes is not expected to vacate the championship right now, according to Bodyslam.net. That is a meaningful detail because the injury came after a chaotic finish to a match that already had extra damage baked into it: Jelly Roll splashed Pat McAfee through the announce table before the main event even began, and Orton then punted Rhodes after the match.
That sequence leaves WWE with a simple but messy reality. Rhodes held onto the Undisputed WWE Championship, but the injury and the aftermath give the company a reason to hold back on announcing what comes next until it knows whether the champion can go on Friday. If the story continues the way the final moments suggested, Orton and Rhodes may not be done with each other yet.